Other

PSX Extreme

Site Stats

Level 5 Preparing Large-Scale RPG For PS3

The minds behind Dragon Quest VIII and Rogue Galaxy are already working on a PS3 RPG, and you can expect Level 5 to deliver the goods once again.

Entitled Shirokishi Monogatari which roughly translates to White Knight Story, the game will take a cue from DQ VIII by being absoultely massive in size and scale. Level 5's most recent effort sported one of the largest worlds on the PS2, and their newest game will actually feature monstrous enemies bigger than whole cities! Size is a main focus throughout, as evidenced by the main character's special trait...

You will follow the adventure of a boy who obtains a mysterious ancient artifact; an artifact that allows him to transform into the White Knight, a 7-meter-tall warrior from ancient times. On the flip side, you will face the Black Knight of equal size, which means players can expect a Xenosaga feel to the game (battles including both normal human-sized characters and much larger units).

This fantasy RPG does retain several traditional Japanese styles, but it will also feature a real-time form of adventuring, as you can spot enemies from afar on the world map. Enemies will also take notice of your travels, and perhaps even gather up allies to hunt you down. Furthermore, instead of the straightforward turn-based combat method, Level 5 has another little surprise in store.

Much like other hybrids (Star Ocean, Tales of Symphonia), White Knight Story will boast battles that utilize elements from both turn-based and real-time formats. Before an encounter begins, you'll access a "Battle Preparation" screen where you must assign commands to each of your three characters. These characters have a "Function Palette," where commands can be set during preparation and then exececuted in battle simply by pressing a button. Each palette can hold 7 abilities, and it's likely these palettes will represent a large portion of the strategy in the game.

Even though it's only recently getting attention and coverage, this game has apparently been in production for quite some time. And despite the lack of a release date, they will be showing a lot more at TGS over the next few days. So keep an eye out for more details concerning White Knight Story.